The Second
by Dysentia
Summary: IS, Infinite Stratos. The technological marvel that changed the world. In the ten years that it's been operational, there have only been Female Pilots... Until now. Indefinite Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

The Second

Chapter 1: Another one?

First off, for my regular readers, you may have noticed that all my other stories are currently on Hiatus, that is so I can work on this story with peace of mind.

Also, I'd like to thank my beta-reader for this story, Mister Panda-kun77

He did a fantastic job of giving me helpful tips and finding things that didn't fit right, so a round of applause for him.

Now On with the show!

* * *

><p>Flying through the sky, feeling the wind against his cheeks and brushing through his hair, it was a sensation like no other.<p>

The next he knew, he felt an incredibly powerful pain wash over him and was suddenly falling; gravity's cruel grip pulling him down and all he could do was simply watch as the ground grew closer and closer.

BAM!

Naruto shot up out of his bed with a start, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and hanging off his unruly blonde hair. He winced slightly as the window blinds automatically opened to let in the sun's early morning light. Naruto had been having the same dream ever since he touched that accursed thing.

Infinite Stratos.

His father, Minato Namikaze, purchased one ten years ago. He had hoped to give it to a daughter of his, who was soon to be born. Sadly, both the child and her mother both perished during birth. Minato was devastated to say the least. It was almost a month before he started paying attention to his son again.

Naruto himself took longer to adjust to not having a mother anymore. He was only six at the time.

Roughly two months ago, Naruto had been looking through some old things when he came across a key and an address. He had followed it to a self-storage business. Opening his father's vault, he saw it.

The bulky hunk of metal was covered in dust and cobwebs. Naturally curious as to why it was so popular, he brushed his fingers across the dusty plates, taking in its rough feel and the jagged edges. It all stopped when a small blue glow started coming from the plate under his fingers. He felt a cold shock run through his spine as his mind yelled at him to move, but his body simply wouldn't obey. Suddenly, he was assaulted by information; basic movements, operation, capabilities, characteristics and so much more entered his brain all at once.

Before he knew it, he was back at home staring at his ceiling.

Shaking his head clear, he got out of bed and started getting changed. After emerging from his bedroom, he immediately began seeking out his father. He really needed to get something off his chest.

* * *

><p>Minato was having a tough time. He was signing every piece of paper that was in front of him. He figured that being an IS component designer would be easy, just think of a good weapontool and patent them. What he didn't know about was all the red tape and regulation the government would shove his way. Other than that, there was pretty much no limit as to what the design could be. He actually helped design the Uchigane Niigata, Japan's third generation IS.

At the current moment he was signing the forms to produce the 'Kage Bunshin' Distraction Equipment. The equipment simply comprised of two or more autonomous parts that split off and produce holographic replicas of the IS it is equipped to. To further enhance the enemy's confusion, each one is equipped with a low output beam weapon. These parts were mounted in the 'wings' of an IS. The parts themselves took the shape of simple cylindrical rods.

He had another project that he was working on, one that he had only told Naruto about. He once said that when he was done with it, the one who wielded it could even be a match for Mondo Grosso Champion.

Of course that would only be with the IS he personally designed.

His thoughts were interrupted when his son walked into his office with an apprehensive look about him.

"Naruto, my boy, how can I help you?" Minato greeted with a smile.

"Dad, there is something you should know." Naruto paused, biting his lip and gathering his courage. "I found a key in the storage and an address with it." He looked up and, seeing his father's mild shock, he continued. "I went to that address and unlocked your storage there, and when I touched the IS, something happened."

"What are you talking about?" Minato carefully asked, his gaze narrowing and his pulse starting to increase. "What happened exactly?"

"It just started glowing; I don't know why, it just did." Naruto admitted.

"It reacted to him." Minato breathed, a small smile growing on his face until it became a grin and he started laughing. "It reacted to him!" He loudly announced, making his son look on with a confused expression.

"Dad what's going on?" Naruto asked, backing away from his too cheerful father.

"Don't you see Naruto? The IS reacted to you, that means that you could possibly pilot one!"

"But I-I'm not a girl." Naruto defended.

"Exactly! That is what makes it so wonderful!" Minato exclaimed. "You could be the first male IS pilot!"

* * *

><p>Naruto took his first steps in his own Personal IS. It was fluid, to say the least. He only just stepped into it and already he could use like he had been all his life, he could feel everything it felt, what it saw he saw. For lack of a better description, he felt like he was the IS. But this new machine was quite different. It was designed by his father and hadn't been cleared for mass-production. Minato called this particular one, 'Hokage' or 'Fire Shadow'.<p>

The legs were quite thin at the thigh, but noticeably widened near the feet, around the on top of the knees were small rounded spikes. Situated on the outer edge of the legs were small openings, mostly for show but it did hold compressed air boosters for a quick evasion, though they would only be good for three uses.

The arms extended above the elbow, unlike most others models which ended at the elbow. The forearms held retractable Katara-like blades and as such were slightly bulky at the wrist. The wings were a variation of Minato's 'Kage Bunshin' Equipment, whereas the original was just a simple rod, these ones had metal 'teeth' running along the length and were angled at the end. To top the whole thing off was the colour.

It was orange.

There hardly any room for compromise with Naruto when it came to the colour. He did however agree to have black highlights.

It had only been a few days since he told his father about his encounter with the IS. His father immediately called the people who ran the IS Academy, who in turn informed the government. They were suspicious of him, supposedly because there was another boy who could use the IS who was found during an IS examination in the past week, so both parties were surprised that they had a report of another one so soon.

Naruto was currently being evaluated by a representative of the IS Academy and the Japanese Government, just to see if he could actually use it. The location was a nearby school's gym hall. The look on one judge's face made Naruto wish he had a camera with him.

After he finally got comfortable with walking in Hokage, Naruto called out to the representatives so he could begin the actual test.

Snapping out of their shock, the Academy examiner took place in the standard training IS and warned that she wouldn't go easy on him for being a beginner. With Naruto nodding his consent, she charged with her blade held high and ready to strike.

Now, Naruto was never one to actually be picking fights, but when he did get into one, the first reaction was to protect one's self. So when he saw the blade coming, he did the natural thing and tried to protect his face with his arms. What he didn't expect was for the Katara blades to suddenly pop out and take the brunt of the hit. And now he was locking blades with the examiner, which he quickly leaned to the right and pushed the sword away. While the blades were free, he instinctively brought his right leg to bear and picked out the examiner's legs, tripping her to the ground.

Wanting to end it quickly, Naruto pinned the examiner's sword arm to the ground with his foot and pointed one of his Katara at her.

"Surrender," He demanded, pushing his blade against her barrier.

"Ok, you pass." The examiner conceded, sounding more bored than upset. After standing up, the examiner pointedly nodded towards the government representative. Looking back at Naruto, she extended her hand to shake his. "Welcome to the IS Academy," She congratulated with a small smile.

Naruto took the hand and gave it a firm shake whilst returning the smile.

"We hope to see you soon, Namikaze."

* * *

><p>Today was the day, Naruto's first day as an IS Academy Student. What he forgot to factor in on this good day was that 99.9% of the population was female, the only exception being this Ichika Orimura, who was at the present time giving his introduction.<p>

"My name is Ichika Orimura, pleased to meet you." It was then that he felt all the eyes on him and he glanced pleadingly to his left as if to receive help from a specific girl. When he saw that he wasn't going to get any, he took a deep breath which held everyone's attention. "That's all!"

Naruto could barely hold his laughter back as most of the girls just fell down from the anti-climactic speech. It got even harder when he reacted to their reactions, as he started to ask if that was a bad move, only to get clocked on the head by a newly arrived teacher. Ichika wallowed in pain for a second before looking up at his attacker who happened to be someone he knew.

"Chifuyu-nee!"

WHAM!

"It's Orimura-sensei at school." She coldly stated. By now Naruto was at his limit, with his mouth trying desperately to shut, but his laughter not allowing it.

He didn't hear much else because of him trying to control himself, but he snapped out of it when most of the girls started to squeal and proclaiming that their teacher was _The Chifuyu Orimura_.

Of course Naruto had no idea who that was and was about to voice his question, when Ichika's tongue slipped forgetting that he had to call this woman 'Orimura-sensei'. Hell, the guy failed to do so another time and ended up with his head pinned to his desk by her. It was then that he finally submitted and started calling her how she wanted.

A few whispers were exchanged between the girls before quickly being quieted by Orimura-sensei.

"Be quiet!" She commanded. "I'll have you memorise the basics of IS within the next six months. After that it's hands-on, you should learn the basic manoeuvres within half a month." She continued. "Okay? If you agree, answer. Even if you don't, still answer me."

"Hai!"

It was then that the other teacher, a green haired woman named Maya Yamada, took over. She simply went over a quick introduction on the Infinite Stratos itself, The Alaska Treaty which prevented the use of IS as a military weapon and how that Academy they were in was the only place in the world to get official IS training.

After the introduction, most of the girls left to find friends, explore and gossip. This left Ichika looking irritated at his desk, no doubt from all the looks he was getting.

From his own desk at the back, Naruto was also getting his share of glances and rumours. Having enough, he stood up and walked over to introduce himself to Ichika, the only guys needed to stick together after all.

Leaning against an adjacent desk, Naruto spoke up. "So you're Ichika?"

"Yeah, that's me, only man who can pilot IS." The dark haired boy replied glumly.

"Look again. There's another guy right here," Naruto stated. "Don't know how you missed me." He added with an exasperated sigh.

"Huh, Yes! I'm saved!" Ichika all but shouted, making Naruto take a step away. "I had no idea there was another guy here."

"I doubt I'm here to save you, but at least we won't have to go through this alone, huh?" Naruto chuckled. "Look sharp, a girl's coming to talk to you. I'll get back to my desk so you can have some privacy."

Ichika turned around to see Houki Shinonono, his childhood friend, approaching him. He took in her appearance in detail. She had definitely grown and filled out since he'd last seen her, her hair was still in that split pony-tail and her eyes still that magnificent shade of blue. The only thing different was that she wore the Academy uniform, a white blazer and skirt with pinkish-red trims. Once reaching him, she asked for a moment of his time.

Sitting back at his desk, Naruto spied the two leaving the classroom. _'That was fast.'_

* * *

><p>The bell had rang only a few minutes later, causing the students to return to the classroom, with the last being Ichika and that other girl. Though for those last minutes, Naruto could feel someone's gaze on him. It was coming from that blue eyed, curly haired blonde who seemed to look down on everyone.<p>

So now Naruto was being bored to death by the assistant teacher Yamada, who was going on about the details of the Alaska treaty and how they should try and follow it… or something along those lines. Naruto was barely keeping up, but he managed to hide it, unlike Ichika, who was obviously struggling to understand. It was so obvious that even Yamada-sensei openly reassured him to ask questions.

Unfortunately for Ichika's pride, his question was that he simply didn't understand a damned thing. This shame was increased tenfold when the teacher asked everyone else if they didn't understand anything, which was answered with silence.

Once again, Ichika's sister got involved and asked him if he read the reference book before entering, which he confirmed that he didn't, causing her to hit him again and give him extra homework, which consisted of memorising the entire reference book within the week. When Ichika tried to complain, Chifuyu glared at him. Naruto could have sworn there was a glint in her eye when she did though.

Ichika spent the rest of the lesson with his head hung in shame.

* * *

><p>When recess came, Ichika was approached by the same natural blonde that was looking at Naruto before. Ichika once again showed off his lack of tact, making the girl go on a tirade of how he should be acting better towards her and how she was superior.<p>

"Sorry, but I don't know who you are." Ichika said. Once again the girl went into a tirade.

"You don't know me? I'm Cecilia Alcott, valedictorian of the entrance exam and Representative contender student of England!" This is where Ichika stopped her by holding his hand out in front of her.

"May I ask a question?" This in itself caused her to go on a self-pampering speech of superiority. She could have just said yes and saved herself the trouble and breath. "What's a Representative Contender Student?"

This question even made Naruto fall out of his seat and Cecilia to twitch in annoyance. _'That's right, Ichika didn't read the reference manual… Well, I didn't read the entire thing either, but I got enough to know what a candidate is.' _Naruto reminded himself.

"I don't believe this, even if it's a country of the Far East, this stuff is common knowledge, Common Knowledge!" Cecilia was almost pulling her hair out. "Doesn't Japan have television?

"It may be common knowledge amongst women." Naruto stated, walking into the conversation. "But most males don't have any interest in IS affairs, seeing as we don't usually get involved."

"And you are?" Cecilia asked haughtily, her cheeks flushed from her point being rendered redundant.

"I'm Naruto Namikaze, The Second Male IS Pilot." He introduced himself proudly.

"So what is a Representative Contender Student?" Ichika asked, stopping the lightning from shooting between the two blondes. Cecilia got her own eye-gleam as she answered.

"The pilot of the Country's IS is decided from the pool of representative candidates, which means the elites...you, should be able to imagine the meaning of the words." She informed as her composure started to reform.

"Now that you've mentioned it, which seems to be the case," Ichika agreed.

"That's right, we're elites. You should consider yourself lucky to be in the same class as such a talented individual as me!" She continued, still spinning and adding dramatic poses. "Can you understand that reality?" Her demeanour suddenly changed from her 'elite' mode and back into being realistic and condescending.

"Is that so?" Ichika pondered. "That's lucky."

With an exasperated sigh, Cecilia continued. "From at least one of the two of you, I expected something much more."

Naruto's eye started twitching in annoyance.

Ichika just muttered something about expecting anything from him was probably a bad idea.

"Since I'm so good, I'll even be nice to people like you two." She continued on her speech with that same irritating tone that Naruto had grown to hate. "If you don't understand anything fully… if you cry and beg, I would not mind tutoring you. After all, I am an Elite amongst Elites who's the only one to defeat an instructor during the entrance exam."

"The entrance exam you're talking about is that, right? Are you talking about initiating the IS?"

"What else?

"That? Well I managed to defeat an instructor as well." Ichika stated, which to Cecilia, felt like a stab to the chest. "Although, they just charged at me, so I evaded and they crashed into the wall, taking themselves out of commission." He muttered, taking out a text book for the next lesson.

"But I heard that it was only me…" Cecilia muttered. "You defeated an instructor too!" She almost screamed.

Naruto felt that keeping that he also defeated an instructor a secret was a good idea as he watched the British girl lose her cool. Just as she was about to rant once more, the bell rang and she was forced to return to her seat. But not before promising to finish the conversation later.

"For the remaining time, we'll mainly be describing all sorts of equipment that can be used in actual combat, and their characteristics." Orimura-sensei began as she replaced Yamada-sensei, who taught the first two periods. "Ah, but before that, we have to decide on the class representative who'll take part in the inter-class tournament."

Suddenly thinking about it, Orimura-sensei may have forgotten to mention it beforehand. The term, inter-class tournament was new to Naruto. _'Must be in the other section of the reference book,' _He thought.

"The class representative is as its name indicates. The class representative will not only compete in the tournament, but will also attend student council meetings and committee meetings as well. Well, you can consider it like a class leader. On a side note, the inter-class battles are meant to gauge each class' enrolment ability. Though there isn't much difference right now, some competition will encourage further improvement."

All of a sudden, the entire class started to become very active. Ichika didn't seem to understand what was going on, so he just sat comfortably while the girls went off.

"Sensei, I recommend Orimura-kun!" One girl shouted. Still Ichika wasn't worried.

"I feel that it's a good idea too!" a second girl voiced her opinion. If anyone could have read Ichika's thoughts, they would have heard something along the lines of 'So there's someone else called Orimura in this class? What a coincidence…' and after the second girl spoke, it was. 'Hm, so do I. Anyone will do, as long as it isn't me.'

Naruto was severely tempted to jump up and shout at Ichika to deny the position, but then he caught the looks most of the girls were giving the oblivious boy. They were looks of expectation, as if they were saying 'If it's him, he can do it.' It seemed that almost every girl was expecting something great from Ichika.

Then Orimura-sensei spoke up. "Then the candidate will be Ichika Orimura… is there anyone else? You can nominate yourself or another person, both are fine."

"W-wait m-me?" Ichika suddenly sputtered, finally figuring it out and standing up to protest.

"Orimura, sit down, you're irritating to the eye," His older sister told him, no punches being pulled. "Is there anyone else? If not then Ichika Orimura will be elected by default."

Ichika was desperately pleading with his older sister, who cut down his argument with no remorse. Naruto swallowed his pride and stood up. "I, Naruto Namikaze nominate myself." Most girls gasped; shocked that one man would be apparently jealous of another.

"Hold on a minute!" A very enthusiastic voice spoke up. "I cannot acknowledge either of these outcomes!" Cecilia Alcott slammed her palms down onto her desk and stood, making her look that much more imposing. "This kind of election result is totally unacceptable! Anyway, having a man as our class representative is totally disgraceful! Do you want me, Cecilia Alcott to endure this shame for a whole year?"

Unknown to all the girls, both men were breathing much easier due to Cecilia's rant.

"In terms of ability, it's obvious that I should be the class representative. But it'll be troubling if some rare Far East monkey is to be chosen because he is a rare breed! I came to this island country to polish up my IS skills, and I have no interest in joining a circus!"

Cecilia was starting to push Naruto's buttons, all the wrong ones too. Ichika was feeling a similar feeling bubbling to the surface. The fact that they were not even considered human to her mostly ticked them off.

"Is that alright! Only the most talented can be the class representative, and I'm the most suitable one!"

She was getting sloppy in picking her words, each one contained more anger than the previous.

"In the first place, living in such a country with an underdeveloped level of culture is such an unbearable pain to me-"

Unable to take anymore insults, Ichika snapped.

"Even if Britain's one huge country, it's still too arrogant on your part, right? How many years has it been now that you've won the World's Worst Cuisine award?"

With the entire class silent, the only sound that could be heard was Naruto slapping his face and groaning in disappointment.

"You-you-you dare insult my country?" Cecilia sputtered her face red with fury. "It's a Duel!" she announced, pointing her finger directly at Ichika.

"Great, bring it on, much better than having to debate over it." Ichika egged on.

"You talk big. Since you deliberately asked for defeat, I'll accept you as a servant-no, a slave!"

"Don't look down on me. This is a serious showdown, don't try and do it half-heartedly."

"Is that so? Perfect timing, this will be the one and only chance for me, Britain's candidate Cecilia Alcott to display her ability."

Even though it was a duel, since it was between a boy and girl, Ichika's chivalrous sense kicked in.

"How much of a ha-" He was cut off by Naruto's hands covering his mouth.

"I know what you're going to say, and so if you value what little of your pride is left, you will not say those words." Naruto whispered to him in a grim voice.

"Then it's settled." Chifuyu announced. "The battle will take place next Monday in the third arena. Orimura, Alcott, make sure you prepare. Now then, back to lessons."

"Uh, sensei?" one girl suddenly asked.

"Yes?"

"What about Namikaze-san? He hasn't withdrawn from the election."

Naruto flinched; he forgot that tiny glaring detail that now sat upon his head like a weight of shame.

"Ah, yes. Namikaze, since you elected yourself, you cannot back out. This duel is now a three-way Battle Royale." The elder Orimura announced. "Orimura, Alcott, Namikaze, do you understand?"

"Hai." The only female sounded very enthusiastic about this, while at least one of the two males was seriously considering calling in sick that day.

* * *

><p>Most of the remaining day was spent isolated for the two males. When it came time for lunch, the girls parted ways upon seeing them. It was as if they were poisonous animals and that they were afraid to get even four feet close to.<p>

After eating his lunch, Ichika got stuck into the reference manual, apparently not wanting to face the wrath of his older sister.

Naruto on the other hand was somewhat preparing for the battle in a week's time. He was mentally going over Hokage's schematics and specs, seeing if there was anything he could add to get an advantage. The only thing he could think of was to train with the 'Kage Bunshin' against an opponent. Then there was the special mode that his father told him to only activate under dire circumstances.

So here they were, after school and still being watched like dangerous animals.

Naruto had his feet up on his desk and with his eyes closed, whilst his mind ran through the brief training he had.

Ichika was sprawled face down over his desk. That was until Maya came in to give the boys their dorm room numbers and keys. After Ichika was given his and Naruto's, Maya started talking in hushed tones about the government and if he had heard anything from them.

Suddenly Chifuyu appeared and gave him some information about the dorms. As well as advised him against using the public baths. That particular conversation spiralled into something that Ichika was very embarrassed about and helpless to stop. The older woman seemed to tease a reaction from Ichika after he voiced his opinion to not want to bathe with the girls. He knew that this would be a rumour in the near future.

After the women left a very flustered Ichika alone, he packed up and called Naruto over to hand over his key.

"So..." Naruto started, trying to break the awkward silence. "This isn't all that it was cracked up to be huh?"

"Not one bit." Ichika sighed. "I mean my sister is my teacher, and I can't even call her 'Nee-san'. On top of all that, I was forced into this."

"Oh, so that's why she hit you all the time?" Naruto asked, seeing Ichika nod sadly, he continued. "I can't imagine what it's like. It'd be like me not calling my dad 'Otou-san'."

"And what's with that Cecilia? Speaking down to us like we're meant to be slaves or something," Ichika grumbled.

"I guess that she was brought up in a Matriarchal society like the rest of us. It's not exactly uncommon to see a woman beating a random guy in downtown Tokyo these days, y'know?" Naruto said, whacking psychiatric.

"It takes the 'fairer' sex nearly one hundred years to grow to an equal stand-point, then IS comes along and they're higher than us on the social hierarchy in less than a half-decade." Ichika sighed, "At least we men still have our chivalry, pride and honour ingrained into our blood, right?"

"Let us never forget."

* * *

><p>"This is my room, see you tomorrow." Ichika spoke when they came across Room 1025.<p>

Naruto waved as his new friend stepped into his room. Scratching his head, he started walking again, trying to find his room. Apparently it was room 1048, which should be just a bit down the hall. He didn't really get far, because there was a large group of girls just standing in the hall talking. Not to mention that all of them were in their pyjamas, most of which were somewhat revealing.

Naruto did his best not to look as he walked around them. Eventually he came to his room, which was decorated with a fairly elaborate door, like all the others. Opening the door and stepping through, he found that the room was quite spacious, especially since there were two beds and two desks with terminals. He also noted the large gym bag of clothes by the first bed.

"I guess that one's taken." He muttered as he walked to the window side bed and sitting down. For once in his life, Naruto was actually not too keen to get to dinner. After all, he knew it would mostly consist of the girls crowded around him and Ichika, too afraid to get close and whispering amongst themselves.

So instead of standing back up, he lay down on his soft mattress and closed his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here!" screeched a very familiar voice, one which Naruto had hoped not to hear for at least another week. "What are you doing in my room?" She demanded.

Forcing himself into a sitting position once again, he looked at he looked other occupant. "This happens to be my room as well, Cecilia Alcott."

"Get out you perverted idiot!" Cecilia screamed, not hearing Naruto's excuse. Sighing, he flicked a folded piece of paper at her.

"Check the paper work. Besides, I have no intention of being a pervert, just let me sleep." He said, lying back down and facing the window.

Cecilia stopped throwing insults long enough to actually pick up and read the paper he threw at her. By the time she finished reading it, her teeth were grinding. But seeing as though control was out of her hands, she would just have to bear with it until the man got his own room.

"We'll settle the room rules later." She said with a tone that suggested no room for argument. "And as I am a courteous host, I am obliged to ask if you would like anything to eat."

"As long as you're offering, I'll have some rice." Naruto could feel Cecilia's glare boring into the back of head. "Please." He added, swallowing his pride.

"Very well, after I return, we will talk. I wish to know more about you, Namikaze."

"As I you, Alcott," He replied. 'I bet Ichika doesn't have to deal with this crap.'

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Ichika wasn't in a much better situation. He found out that his roommate was his childhood friend Houki Shinonono, who unintentionally greeted him in only a towel. This led to her grabbing her bokken and swinging it at him. When he thought he was safe by escaping out of the room, he was proven wrong by said bokken piercing the door and almost skewering him several times.<p>

Then he was onset by several females who were investigating the commotion he was causing. Most of them dressed in night gowns that accentuated their curves. Suffice to say, he was forced to beg Houki to let him back in, which she did… after a few agonising minutes.

Now here he was, discussing the rules of the room with her. They had agreed on shower times, he could only use it after Eight PM, while Houki had it from Seven PM. And after he accidentally miss-worded a sentence, he was forced to take Houki's Shinai to defend himself. Though there was something on the end of it, something that made Houki's face turn an unnatural shade of red. All Ichika could garner from his brief look was that it was pink, then Houki snatched it away and hid it from his sight.

After a brief moment of comparing the things he had already seen whilst doing his sister's laundry for years, and the way that Houki reacted, he knew what she was hiding.

"Houki…"

"Wh-what?"

"You've started wearing bras…"

"!"

BAM!

* * *

><p>It was currently half past seven, and Naruto was slowly eating his rice and looking warily at the girl sitting on the opposite bed. Popping the last few grains into his mouth, he decided to break the silence.<p>

"So what did you want to know about me?" He asked, placing the bowl and chopsticks on his bedside table. He noticed that Cecilia bit her lip, generally hesitant about asking something.

"…W-why do you want to know about me?" She asked quietly. Naruto was quite surprised; he actually never thought that the loud girl in class would be this gentle. He gave her a small but sincere smile.

"Because… I want to be a friend, not an enemy."

"…Oh… Even though I said those things about Japan?" She asked warily. Nobody really just wanted to be her friend; they were usually after her money.

"Well, you were angry at that time, so I can overlook that." He chuckled. "So why do you look down on men?"

"… My father was weak…" She said on the verge of being a whisper. "My mother was an impressive woman; she already managed several companies even before the IS. My father married into her family, he must have felt very inferior compared to her. After the IS he became much sulkier, mother didn't even want to talk to him. But he never lost that 'never give up' look in his eyes. Kind of like your eyes now.

"They both died three years ago in an accident. This left me with the family fortune. I had to protect what my parents left me; I studied hard and became a grade A+ student when it came to IS. The government let me pilot their third generation IS in exchange for all kinds of benefits. I accepted immediately, thinking of only protecting my parent's inheritance."

"I see." Naruto said sympathetically

"No you don't. You don't know what it's like to lose your parents." Cecilia spat. "I was alone, I had to-"

"No, I don't know what it's like to lose both my parents." Naruto interrupted. "… I lost my mother when I was barely six years old. She died giving birth to my baby sister, who also died." He smiled, reminiscing the days before that incident. "I was going to be a big brother. I was so excited." He lost his smile, turning it into a sad frown. "But that happened, my father was devastated. We didn't talk for a whole month. I had to take care of everything during that time. I cooked, I cleaned and I took care of my father. It was painful being alone.

"Cecilia, I know what it's like."

Cecilia could only look on sadly as she heard his tale. And for one brief moment, their eyes met, and they both smiled sincerely.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Battle Royale

The next morning, Naruto caught up with Ichika and Houki, who were both at their very own table… surrounded by that ever present four feet of space that circled Ichika and Naruto.

Naruto had grabbed a relatively large breakfast, larger than Ichika's. His reasoning being that he only had a bowl of rice the previous night. He had grabbed the usual rice, miso soup, salmon and natto. What he added was some bread, bacon and eggs. Not much, but still more than enough to fill up after a nights worth of an empty stomach.

Ichika was trying desperately to talk to Houki, to at least get back on even terms. Naruto figured that they had some kind of scuffle last night, if the rumours were right of course.

"Oi Oi, over there, they're the two boys…"

"Two? I heard that there was only one."

"Yeah, one of them is Chifuyu Nee-sama's little brother."

"Really, so they're both IS pilots? Is he strong?"

Naruto tried to block out the incessant whispers of gossiping girls while he ate, but their tones were just too exhausting to ignore. So he figured that if he talked then the girls would be easier to drown out.

"Ne, Ichika, Houki-san," He began, getting their attention. "I heard that you two are sharing a room. Congrats."

Ichika smiled his appreciation whilst Houki was blushing furiously, which Naruto noticed.

"Hentai-baka!" Houki basically shouted in his face, even leaning over Ichika to do so. "How dare you suggest something like that!"

"I'm just saying that it's good that you got a friend, who you knew before hand, as your roommate." Naruto defended, before muttering, "Unlike me."

"Why? Who'd you get stuck with?" Ichika asked with an eyebrow quirked.

"Cecilia." Naruto stated simply.

Ichika sucked in a sharp breath and sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. "I really feel for you man."

"Orimura-kun, Namikaze-kun, can we sit here please?" A voice asked.

Both boys look up to see three girls holding trays as they anxiously waited for a reply.

"Well, it's not like you can't/I don't mind." Ichika and Naruto responded respectively. The three girls let out a breath of relief and once again the others that were too nervous to walk up and talk to them, started muttering again.

"Ahh, I should have tried to talk to one of them earlier…"

"It, it's just the second day, nothing to panic over."

Naruto could swear that those girls can tell when he is listening or something. 'It's like they instinctively know on which frequency my ears are tuned to.' His mind conspired.

"Wow, Orimura-kun you sure eat a lot in the morning." One girl commented, prompting another to talk.

"Well, he is a guy you know."

"Well, I don't eat much at night so I make up for it at breakfast, otherwise I won't make it through the day." Ichika informed them. "By the way, is it alright for you to eat so little?" He asked, glancing at their plates.

The girls suddenly seemed a bit bashful at their choices, which mostly consisted of bread, a side dish and a drink.

"W-well, we eat a lot of snacks during the day…" One of them answered with a forced smile. Ichika could only give a simple sigh.

"Orimura, I'm going." Houki suddenly spoke, picking up her tray and walking off.

"Ah? Ok, see you later." Ichika responded, with a short wave. He watched walk off, several thoughts about the past running through his head.

"Orimura-kun, are you familiar with Shinonono-san?"

"Ah, sort of. We're childhood friends."

When the commotion level suddenly sky-rocketed around him, Ichika was left confused. 'Is being a childhood friend that much of a deal?' He mentally asked himself.

"Ichika, you better hurry up, Chifuyu's heading this way." Naruto warned, standing up and taking his tray with him. "I'll see you in class."

**Clap! Clap!**

"How long are you going to eat? You should be fast when eating. If you're late you will run around the fields ten times!" Chifuyu stated, completely in teacher mode.

Everyone in the room suddenly picked up the pace in consuming their food. The reason being was that one lap of the field roughly equates to five kilometres.

Running fifty kilometres is a pretty harsh punishment for not eating quickly so Ichika frantically inhaled his remaining food.

* * *

><p>"In other words, the IS was originally created for space work, so the pilot is covered in a special armour. Also, the armour has the ability to increase body functions and keep the pilots in a stable state. This increases the heart rate, pulse, lung capacity, amount of sweat lost, endorphins-"<p>

"Sensei, is that really alright? It's kind of scary when the body is manipulated like that." One of the girls asked, sounding very unsure with this new information.

"It's not really that complicated. Oh yes, for example, everyone's wearing a bra, right? If one has that kind of support, there's no reason that it will cause any adverse effects on humans. Of course, if it's not by your own measurements but out of shape, then-"

Maya's eyes met with Ichika's and then suddenly looked over to Naruto whose eyebrow was twitching. She quickly went into a ramble of apologies and nervous laughter to try and undo the damage.

Naruto wasn't sure about Ichika, but when he thought of bras his mind usually drifted towards them cupping the soft and tender flesh of a woman's – No no no! Bad Naruto, don't think of such things when actual women are nearby!

In the middle of Naruto's mental self-berating, most of the girls realised that there were two men in the class and were trying to hide their breasts from possible leering eyes. The awkward air seemed to stick around for another twenty or so seconds before Orimura-sensei asked Maya to continue the lesson.

Deliberately faking a cough to disperse the atmosphere, Yamada-sensei returned back to topic under Chifuyu's prompt, even though it looked like she was about to bury herself in the book.

"Then, well, I got something important. The IS has something similar to a human's consciousness that can converse with the pilot—in other words, understanding each other by living together. As such, the longer the operation time, the more the IS understands the pilot's characteristics." Maya explained. "The more you understand each other, the better you can use its utmost capability. You have to understand that the IS isn't a tool, but your friend or partner."

"Sensei?" One student asked. "Is it like having a boyfriend or something?"

Naruto tuned out the lecture at this point. He got the necessary information and thus didn't want to listen to girls fantasize about their particular boyfriend material. It's not like that would come in handy in the near future… right?

**DING-DONG-DANG-DONG**

The bell sounded, signalling a fifteen minute recess.

"During the remaining time were going to start training on basic IS braking in the air." Their sensei announced before leaving for the staff room.

Naruto folded his arms and rested his forehead on them. He could already see several girls heading for Ichika and he wanted no part of it.

"Namikaze," A familiar voice spoke. "I need to talk to you."

Naruto sighed and picked himself up. Stepping out of the door, he could see another group of girls to his left all swooning over Ichika. To his right stood Cecilia tapping her foot impatiently as she leaned against the wall.

"What is it that you want to talk about Cecilia?" Naruto asked, suppressing a yawn.

"I was wondering…" She drifted off, seemingly unable to voice her question. "I was wondering i-if you would consider training with me?" She paused, making it look hard for her to actually talk. "After school… and only until the battle," She quickly added, a light blush adorning her cheeks.

"It would be my pleasure, Cecilia-chan." Naruto answered with a big friendly grin.

"Y-you idiot," She said, looking away that blush now a bright red. "I'm only doing this because I heard that you have your own Personal IS." She stated, back in her usual tone. "Don't tell me I'm mistaken?"

"No, you're right. I do have a Personal IS. My dad designed it himself, so I'm very confident in its abilities." Naruto said, pride seeping through his voice. "So don't we have to get permission to use an arena or something?"

"I'll be doing it at lunch." Cecilia replied with a huff. "I'll meet you after school so be ready."

Naruto could only rub his shoulder where Hokage lay in wait.

"Break's over, scram!" The two blondes heard Chifuyu's voice from within the classroom. They glanced at each other and rushed back inside. When Naruto sat down, he only caught the tail-end of the conversation Ichika was having with his sister.

"So wait a while. It seems like the school's making a Personal IS for you." Chifuyu informed her little brother. Ichika gained a questioning look whilst the rest of the class started buzzing with gossip.

"What's going on? Is there anything really worth getting envious of?" Ichika asked, looking clueless as ever. His sister suddenly looked quite irritated and mutters something to him. Ichika nodded and started flipping through his text book and began reading out loud. "Mn, mm... 'Today, even though we have links to many countries and enterprises that provide IS technology, all the information related to the manufacturing of the core is never revealed.

"The cores of the four hundred and sixty seven IS that exist in today's society are all created by Professor Shinonono. This core has been completely transformed into a black box, and none have achieved the success that Professor Shinonono has. However, the Professor has declined to continue creating more after a certain amount, and all countries, organizations and enterprises have started research, development and training of their own cores. The dealings of cores are against Title 7 of the Alaska Treaty, that these are forbidden no matter the circumstances'..."

"Do you understand?"

"So-Sort of..." Ichika admitted, barely grasping the idea.

Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't even listening to the impromptu lecture. All he knew was that Ichika was getting a personalised IS. 'That might make things a bit easier for him, but who knows what area it'll specialise in.' He thought, his mind blocking out everything else, even the squeals and screaming questions of girls.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a very commanding and decisive voice.

"I HAVE NO RELATION WITH THAT PERSON!" Houki shouted, quieting everyone else. She quickly settled down and spoke more calmly, "…Sorry for using such a loud voice. However, I am not that person. There is nothing that I can tell you." With her sentence finished, Houki looked out the window, not wanting to speak anymore.

'What is she talking about? Who was she talking about?' Naruto asked himself.

"Yamada-sensei, let's start the lesson."

"H-hai."

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts and started focusing on the lesson.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the day, Naruto didn't really write anything off as significantly important. There was that one time that Ichika asked Houki to go for lunch. Hell, he even asked if anyone else wanted to join as well. Houki refused to move so he had to grab her by the hand and dragged her away. As they left, Naruto noticed that most of the girls were looking on with envy.<p>

At the end of the day, Houki had dragged Ichika away somewhere. Naruto didn't really have much time to think on it as Cecilia pulled him along to the training arena. Once they reached the changing rooms, she suddenly became aggressive.

"I'm changing, so you change too! And if I find you trying to peek I will use you for live fire practice _without_ an IS!" She threatened.

It said in the school handbook, which was still over a hundred pages long, that Representative candidate students are allowed to wear personalised gym clothes. They were still the same, just with a different colour scheme. Of course, the book was written with the assumption that there wouldn't be any male pilots.

For the boys it was a simple dark shirt and pants outfit that showed their abdomen. The girls outfit was a tight-fitting suit, resembling a one-piece swimsuit, with thigh length stockings.

'The person who designed these had no intention of preserving modesty.' Naruto thought as he tugged on the hem of his shirt. Placing his other clothes back in his bag, he waited for Cecilia by the arena entrance.

When Cecilia finally finished changing, Naruto had to look twice before looking away to prevent any undesirable reactions to occur. Like he imagined, her suit fit her like a second, royal-blue skin and left hardly anything to his imagination. It hugged her curves and showed off her ample chest, which was relatively large for her age group.

"C-Cecilia," he sputtered. "Shall we go then?" Naruto asked, trying to look at her eyes and nowhere else.

"Y-yeah." Naruto wouldn't notice, but she was also sporting a blush from looking at his figure.

Neither of them spoke as they entered the desolate arena. They only had the place for about an hour so they needed to be quick.

"So, what did you have in mind for actual training?" Naruto asked, looking around the stands for any stragglers. "I mean, I know I'm quite new to the whole thing but I don't know where to start to improve."

"How about a quick skill evaluation?" Cecilia offered. It sounded like a fair enough idea. "We'll start with basic aerial manoeuvres and then we can move onto combat and go from there. Sound good?"

Naruto shrugged. "Fine with me."

"Good, call out your IS and we'll get going." Cecilia ordered as she began to summon Blue Tears.

Naruto concentrated, locking his eyes shut and willing Hokage to appear.

'Hokage, I summon you.' He pictured himself being wrapped by the strong metal of Fire Shadow. From Cecilia's eyes, it was as if a white light gathered at his shoulder and spread all over his body before expanding and taking the shape of Hokage.

The wings were simple rods attached to a double clip-like device that extended up and over Naruto's shoulders with a rigid curve. The arms were extended and suddenly widened the outer side half-way down. The legs grew noticeably longer and much bulkier. Once the movement stopped, the white vanished as if someone had pulled a sheet from off of it.

"Alright, try to keep up, Naruto-san!" Cecilia called as she took off.

Naruto soon followed, albeit at a slower pace. Hokage wasn't built with speed in mind, but for direct combat at mid-range, while Cecilia's Blue Tears was made for powerful, ranged attacks and evasion.

The female blonde took off in slalom, before sharply turning around and coming back. Naruto could follow the same path, but not the speed. Admittedly, he didn't really know much more than basic flight and movement.

"Oi, Cecilia!" Naruto called out, only for her picture to appear in his peripheral vision.

"Yes?" She asked sweetly.

"Uh, I haven't really spent that much time in the IS altogether." He confessed. "Maybe we should go back to basics."

Over the line, Cecilia sighed in disappointment.

'This will be a long week.'

* * *

><p>Ichika wanted to train using the IS, not Kendo! But apparently Houki thought that Kendo training was much more important than actually learning how to control the IS.<p>

Did he mention that she was able to stab through a wooden door with a bokken?

Yeah, Ichika was doomed.

Only ten minutes into it and Ichika was already sitting on the floor panting as he pulled his protective gear off. This wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for Houki raging at him, nor the audience the two had.

"Why have you become so weak?" Houki demanded, throwing her own gear off.

"Cause I was preparing for my exams, I guess." Was Ichika's panting response.

"…What club were you in during Middle School?" Houki asked, a little less peeved.

"The going home club with three years perfect attendance!" Ichika defended.

Houki could only shake her head in disgust.

"Have to retrain you." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Retrain! This is much more disgraceful than not knowing how to use an IS! From now on I'll train you for three hours, every day after school." She said with no room for argument. But Ichika didn't know that.

"But that's a little too long—It's not even IS training, you know!" He tried to complain.

"That's why I said it's a more serious problem!" Houki insisted.

"Ichika-san seems…" One girl started to say.

"Kind of weak." Another finished.

"I wonder if he can even pilot the IS." A third mused.

Ichika could only sit there with a nervous grin on his face.

* * *

><p>'Maybe I was too harsh on him…' Houki reflected, a bit of guilt showing on her face. She was in the Kendo Dojo's change room, and ever since they reunited, she's been thinking the same thing.<p>

It was six years since they've seen each other, she could tell which parts of him had matured and what still stayed the same. 'He always had a childish character to his personality, but in the end he would be a hard worker none-the-less and he clearly hasn't held a sword for at least a year… he wouldn't have lost back then. What happened?'

'He's changed so much; he's become so much cooler than back then…' She almost slapped herself for thinking such things. 'No I meant to say that the look... it's… not bad.' Houki smiled with at her altered thoughts, but her expression turned sour. 'How could he just give up like that… it's unbecoming of a man, didn't he feel any shame at all?'

She couldn't recognise the picture at all when she saw the newspaper article, only when it mentioned his name did she realise that it was him. Ichika knew who she was the moment he saw her.

That made her really happy.

He said that he recognised her hair-style. Did that mean that there was worth in keeping it like that? 'Besides, I'm only fifteen, there's no reason for me not to be curious about romance…'

"Huh!" Houki quickly glanced at the mirror and recovered her thoughts.

She shook her head clear and turned her thoughts to the training. He hasn't lost his skill, just his senses. Regaining those senses will take a long time, as they're gained though experience.

'Starting tomorrow it'll be special training every day after school. It'd be bad if I can't get him back to normal standards.' Houki folded her arms and nodded as if to agree with herself.

'Besides… this means that I have an excuse to be alone with him…'

"No! I'm not thinking of it like that!" She denied, shaking her head furiously. "I'm doing this to help a friend!" She declared with her fist clenched.

* * *

><p><strong>-Six days later-<strong>

"Damn it, where is that guy?" Naruto whined as he floated serenely.

"Maybe he's finally getting his IS. Or he chickened out." Cecilia suggested with a smug smile.

"Either way he's late!" Naruto growled.

Getting impatient he flew down to Ichika's launch pad. He landed skilfully leaving less than ten centimetres space between his feet and the ground. "Oi! Ichika, hurry up!" He hollered. "We only have an hour to use the arena!"

His work done, Naruto back flipped off the edge and zoomed straight back up to Cecilia, who was inspecting her fingers… or her IS's fingers.

It was another minute before Ichika came flying out. He was a little clumsy with the actual flight; using his hands and feet to try and control his momentum.

Seeing her prey arrive, Cecilia smiled evilly as she placed her hand on her hip.

"Oh my, so you didn't run away." She snorted giving off her princess vibe, which was kind of diminished by the fact she was holding a two metre long rifle in her right hand. Said gun was quite unique as it didn't fire shells, but instead shot out a powerful beam. "I'll give you one last chance." She declared, moving her free hand to point at Ichika.

"A chance?" Ichika scoffed.

"It's obvious that you will lose no matter how hard you fight. So if you don't want to be seen in a battered and pathetic state, apologize now and I'll forgive you." Cecilia offered, switching off the safety on her weapon with a look. An action that both Ichika's IS, Byakushiki, and Hokage noticed and sent a warning to their pilots.

"What about him?" Ichika motioned to Naruto. "Aren't you going to offer him the same chance?"

"He and I have already reached a mutual standpoint." Cecilia explained, giving a strange glance towards Naruto before it vanished and she glared at Ichika again. "You, on the other hand, have yet to make up for insulting my country."

Ichika shot a look of betrayal towards Naruto, to which he simply shrugged as if to say 'would have told you if it was important.' Before Ichika could charge at Naruto, a shot flared towards him, grazing his shoulder.

Ichika tumbled once or twice before he regained control and righted himself, barely managing to dash away to dodge a second shot in time.

Byakushiki kept feeding him random numbers and things he couldn't interpret in time. Ichika could understand when Cecilia was going to shoot, thanks to the enhanced senses that it gave him, but that didn't necessarily mean that he could actually dodge the shot.

Every time he was hit, a certain number's value would go down. It started at five-fifty and already it was below four-hundred. Besides, Cecilia was now a secondary target to him. Naruto took priority for betraying his trust.

"Ichika," The traitor's voice came over the communication channel. "I may have become friends with Cecilia, but that doesn't mean that I betrayed you." Naruto reasoned. "If I did betray you, I would be shooting at you like Cecilia is now. This is between you two. I'm just here because of a technicality."

At this moment, he didn't know that Cecilia was also listening in on the conversation and had actually stopped shooting in order to hear him.

"Sensei, I forfeit!" Naruto announced, causing almost everyone watching to gape in disbelief. Cecilia was one in particular.

'He was so energetic about fighting Ichika. Was it all an act?' Cecilia questioned herself. 'Is this man that I've spent all week nothing but a lie?' She wondered as Naruto dismissed Hokage after landing on one of the launch platforms. Before he turned to leave, he looked directly at her and smiled. It was one of his rare sincere smiles. She wouldn't have caught it if she wasn't looking, but he also mouthed something to her.

'Kick his ass for me.'

Cecilia, for the first time in ages, was now genuinely happy. She opened fire with new found vigour, unrelenting in her assault. She would not disappoint Naruto.

* * *

><p>Naruto watched from the stands as Cecilia rained down fire on Ichika who frantically dodged. Every now and then, Cecilia would glance in his direction to remind herself that he was still there.<p>

Even after twenty seven minutes, there was no change to the match. Ichika was still losing and Cecilia still fired round after round at him. Currently, Byakushiki was down to only 67 points of shield energy.

Cecilia really had to give some credit to Ichika, nobody else had survived as long as he had, though she tended to think that Naruto, given similar circumstances, would've hung out for much longer.

The only mildly exciting part was when Ichika finally got close and clashed with Cecilia's rifle. But now it looked like Ichika had taken down all of the Blue Tears drones, only to be surprised as Cecilia revealed two missile launchers that he failed to see. Ichika was only saved by the fact that Byakushiki had finally changed into its First shift.

The First shift happens when an IS adjusts and optimises itself to the pilot, thus becoming much more attuned to their senses and able to process information faster. This only happens with a Personal IS. It's kind of like the IS acknowledging its pilot and will only operate for that person.

Byakushiki had changed quite drastically. The most notable difference was the wings, which had opened to reveal a blue pattern and golden, feather-like protrusions. The entire unit's colour had changed from a dull grey into a vibrant white with several parts now sporting gold and blue highlights.

"I'll be the one to protect my family." Ichika said confidently. "But first I'll have to defend my sister's name!"

Cecilia growled and launched four more missiles at the new Byakushiki. Determined as ever to let Naruto's faith in her be rewarded. Her hopes were dashed when Ichika cleanly cut through all four missiles in three slashes with his newly unlocked blade, Yukihira Type 2.

His path undeterred and clear, Ichika pulled Yukihira into a striking position and let out a war-cry.

"AAAAAHHHHHHGGG!"

Just as he began to swing, a loud buzzer sounded throughout the arena, signalling the end of the match.

"Match over, Winner is Cecilia Alcott!"

Both of the remaining pilots listened with confusion written all over their faces.

* * *

><p>"You lost because you didn't bother to consider the special characteristics of the weapon before you used it. Now that you've experienced it for yourself, I expect you to start working hard from tomorrow onwards. Activate your IS whenever you have time, got it?" Chifuyu ordered.<p>

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." Ichika nodded. Losing despite acting confidant would hurt anyone's pride.

"Your IS is in standby mode now, but if you call it, it'll deploy right away. There're rules to this however, so be sure to study this thoroughly." Maya informed him, handing him a book that looked thick enough to be a phone directory.

"That's it for today Orimura, head back and rest." Chifuyu advised before turning on her heel and leaving.

Following her advice, Ichika left with Houki in a relatively comfortable silence.

They were halfway to the dormitories before anyone spoke.

"…Ichika?" Houki tentatively asks.

"Hm?"

"Are you… upset about losing?"

"Well, yeah of course I am."

"I-is that so? That's good."

'How's me losing a good thing?'

"Ah, starting tomorrow… you'll have t-to do IS training." Houki stated, still gathering her courage. Unluckily for her Ichika picked up on this.

"So, in the end, you're going to teach me how to control an IS, right?"

"I-I don't want to force you!" She hastily answered. "Wouldn't you prefer to have Chifuyu-sensei teach you?" She questioned.

'Is she still dodging the actual question?' Ichika asked himself before answering her. "No, Chifuyu-nee would find it bothersome. And I don't want some people to misinterpret it as favouritism."

"Then what about a sempai? As they say, the seniors can teach you lots of things, and it's important to improve yourself." Houki was doing the best she could, suggesting things but not really saying that she approved. Every other time Ichika asked for IS training, she would usually change the subject entirely, not steer it to reassure herself like she was doing now.

"Hmm, since you don't want to do it. I'll just look for some-"

"I-I DIDN'T SAY THAT I DIDN'T WANT TOO!" Houki shouted before catching herself and pulling back her ferocity. "Tha-That… Ahem, I-Ichika, do you want me to teach you?" Houki finally asked, her face now a bright red.

"Yeah, I do." Ichika smiled.

"I-is that so? ...hmhm, I see. I guess it can't be helped." She said, her mood suddenly brightening. "Alright, I'll teach you. This is a special exception." She declared, putting emphasis on the 'special exception'.

Ichika felt genuinely grateful. After all, if he kept losing to girls, his male pride would be gone completely. Of course, it's already half dead but if he kept losing it would stay dead.

"We'll start tomorrow so be sure to leave some time after school, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

><p>Cecilia didn't feel too good. She was curled up in her bed with her eyes clouded over as she stared out the window. This was the state Naruto found her in when he arrived.<p>

"Cecilia…" he called, earning no reaction from the British teen. "Cecilia, if something is wrong please tell me." He insisted, placing a hand on her exposed shoulder.

"He had the same eyes." She breathed. "He had that same look in his eyes."

"The same eyes?" Naruto asked, mildly confused.

"The same eyes as papa and you." She explained, finally sitting up. "That same look that meant he wouldn't give up. It was just after he said something about defending his sister's name."

That one sentence spoke volumes to Naruto. Cecilia was confused about how all three men in her life could have the exact same look of determination. It wasn't that strange actually. Most men have a very similar look about them when they want to defend something precious to them, whether it's their friends, their family or even their word.

"Cecilia, that's nothing to be confused about. Most men have that look when we protect something precious of ours." Naruto explained. "Ichika was talking about defending his sister's name. That was something that she worked hard to earn. For him, it's a big thing to live up to."

Cecilia nodded slowly, seeming to accept it. "But why did you forfeit? You must have known that I was looking forward to fighting you." She questioned, something in her eyes gave away her real reason. She wanted to know if he really placed his trust in her, or if it was still a lie.

"Because, I knew that you'd be able to take him with one hand tied behind your back." Naruto grinned big, so much so that his teeth actually gleamed a bit.

"You big dummy…" She said with a smile, pushing him slightly.

"Besides, if you think I'd let a damsel such as yourself be in distress, well... you mustn't have learned much over the past week." He chuckled.

A pillow slammed into the side of his head.

"If anyone's a damsel here it's you!" Cecilia yelled, a furious blush covering her cheeks. She continued to slam the pillow down upon Naruto who kept laughing despite himself.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey guys, been a while since the last chapter huh?<p>

Sorry for the wait... in all honesty, this chapter was complete since before I posted the first one. I'm not sure why I kept it from everyone, but I'll try and make the next chapter not take as long

Seem's like this crossover has more than doubled since I was last here... Didn't expect that

Almost forgot, please don't suggest pairings/harems. I'd like it if a review had something helpful in it.

Till next time, look forward to the next chapter which will contain A Battle of Ramen!


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